Constant danger against the unknown and even yourself
I have little experience with the previous Housemarque titles other than the first PS Vita game I ever bought being Super Stardust Delta and if there's anything I can remember about that game is that it was just a huge explosion of effects and explosions bordering on a Michael Bay production. Returnal essentially brings that in their first huge endeavor and became one of the most unique games I have ever played. Now you're probably thinking "A roguelike being unique? The genre has been over flooded by indie developers in the past decade!" and while I agree with that sentiment, the way they handled progression while keeping the action and difficulty at the perfect spot is bordering on magical that it never felt upsetting when you eventually die other than the time commitment. Returnal is not for the faint-hearted, this is a challenging and grueling game but also forgiving in actually giving you checkpoints through the entire campaign while making things slowly easier over time.
The story and the gameplay structure of it is surprisingly personal and ambitious. It won't win any major awards but it does a great job complementing the whole experience. Most of the story is told via audio logs and first person PT like segments that feel fragmented but eventually get put together in a sense in the end. I won't spoil any of the story for obvious reasons but I will go into the gameplay structure of it. Although being a roguelike, Returnal is pretty forgiving in its progression structure that you won't have to repeat specific objectives constantly. Getting further in each run will make your future runs easier just for the completion of said objectives and unlocking tools and equipment that almost feels like a Metroidvania in the most broad sense possible. An example would be spending an hour getting yourself ready for the boss of the first level and managing to defeat it, you'll be giving a key which acts as a means for the next area and some equipment that will make previous inaccessible areas during your run accessible for your future runs. Now say you die in the second area and feel the dread of starting over, you will still have the said key to go into the next area immediately without facing anybody as long as you manage to find it and a pick up at the start will top you off with enough proficiency that you won't feel too far behind. This also doesn't mention the permanent equipment you get which allows you to access and explore most of the areas previously cut off thus giving your more resources and items and thus making your runs easier. Some objectives later on will be more difficult and require more time to be commited before making a permanent checkpoint but the game hopes you take each time and learn the game little by little until you can get back to the same spot with more health and extra chances.
Returnal's gameplay is bordering on being on an adderal fueled bullet hellscape in a great way. The variety of guns you'll encounter feel extremely fun to use with each of them having perks you can unlock permanent that improve them or completely change the way how the gun works. The main thing that makes Returnal's gameplay so rewarding is the movement and the enemy design and attack patterns though. Selene moves like a dream with her dash and speed to match with the enemies that are just as aggressive. They somehow managed to make a third person shooter with insane bullet hell mechanics work extremely well and each encounter feels rewarding when you dodge into a melee attack or get some great shots in that gibs an enemy. The enemy designs are excellent here too with specific enemies in each biome acting different and having different attacks that keeps your on your toes especially since it can all happen at once. Returnal rewards movement above all else and gives you the actual attacks that require that you be perfect with dashes and moving around the map along with some of the best feeling guns I've used in a game in recent time. All of this also using Dual Sense which I think is used extremely well here. Each gun firing has a different feel of vibration that really makes you feel like you're firing that gun in real life along with the sound effects from your controller telling your alternative fire is ready that makes this also an extremely immersive experience on top of that. It's not a roguelike without power ups and Returnal has those in spades but also focusing more on risk and reward from my experience playing the game. You have artifacts which are your usual roguelike buffs in a run which have no downsides, parasites which work as giving you a buff and a debuff at the same time sometimes one outweigh the other one hard and malignant items which have you risk getting the item in exchange of getting a debuff which can range from situational or something extremely important with the only conventional way of removing it being completing the objective given to you by it. I personally always risk one if I have none but you never want too many or risk a critical malfunction which can destroy an item in your inventory. The maps in Returnal or the room structures will definitely become familiar in structure after a while but enemy placements will always be different and where you see the rooms during a run as well. Returnal truly relies on two things: your own skill and a bit of good luck and not getting an enemy early on that will one shot you but if once you get into the rhythm of the gameplay, it somehow gives me the "one more run" feeling despite how long runs are in this game.
The soundtrack does a lot to elevate the atmosphere and the level design each biome has. Each biome truly feels different in the enemy variety, the layout of the levels in general and just how each place has been affected by the events of the game. It's almost bordering on horror sometimes with how eerie the first person house sections are and traversing up a spire and hearing this organ music playing and getting louder and louder until I was at the source. Returnal truly uses everything the PlayStation 5 has and can do to make the sounds feel visceral and haunting bordering on having the controller literally screaming at you at certain moments.
I really loved Returnal honestly. It took me around eightteen hours to finally beat the game and it never got frustrating or fun despite the deaths and commitment to time. The fast frantic gunplay while having to dodge particles like as if they were drops of rain while even running for your life will only get you so far accompanying it with a great narrative and being extremely immersive that I forget myself sometimes. Returnal is truly a challenging game and you will probably feel like giving up at certain points. If you don't want a challenge then you should look elsewhere. Housemarque tends to make arcade style games and them creating this roguelike narrative experience feels like the evolution in a sense. This game feels like a console seller to me alone just for how well it uses the consoles to its absolute limit. With news of a PC version coming soon, I don't know how they'll manage to make the weapons feel with no haptics, it was that good. An extremely fun roguelike taking a few ideas from Metroidvanias in how equipment and item progression work to act like checkpoints and making runs easier but only for the strongest of wills.
I have little experience with the previous Housemarque titles other than the first PS Vita game I ever bought being Super Stardust Delta and if there's anything I can remember about that game is that it was just a huge explosion of effects and explosions bordering on a Michael Bay production. Returnal essentially brings that in their first huge endeavor and became one of the most unique games I have ever played. Now you're probably thinking "A roguelike being unique? The genre has been over flooded by indie developers in the past decade!" and while I agree with that sentiment, the way they handled progression while keeping the action and difficulty at the perfect spot is bordering on magical that it never felt upsetting when you eventually die other than the time commitment. Returnal is not for the faint-hearted, this is a challenging and grueling game but also forgiving in actually giving you checkpoints through the entire campaign while making things slowly easier over time.
The story and the gameplay structure of it is surprisingly personal and ambitious. It won't win any major awards but it does a great job complementing the whole experience. Most of the story is told via audio logs and first person PT like segments that feel fragmented but eventually get put together in a sense in the end. I won't spoil any of the story for obvious reasons but I will go into the gameplay structure of it. Although being a roguelike, Returnal is pretty forgiving in its progression structure that you won't have to repeat specific objectives constantly. Getting further in each run will make your future runs easier just for the completion of said objectives and unlocking tools and equipment that almost feels like a Metroidvania in the most broad sense possible. An example would be spending an hour getting yourself ready for the boss of the first level and managing to defeat it, you'll be giving a key which acts as a means for the next area and some equipment that will make previous inaccessible areas during your run accessible for your future runs. Now say you die in the second area and feel the dread of starting over, you will still have the said key to go into the next area immediately without facing anybody as long as you manage to find it and a pick up at the start will top you off with enough proficiency that you won't feel too far behind. This also doesn't mention the permanent equipment you get which allows you to access and explore most of the areas previously cut off thus giving your more resources and items and thus making your runs easier. Some objectives later on will be more difficult and require more time to be commited before making a permanent checkpoint but the game hopes you take each time and learn the game little by little until you can get back to the same spot with more health and extra chances.
Returnal's gameplay is bordering on being on an adderal fueled bullet hellscape in a great way. The variety of guns you'll encounter feel extremely fun to use with each of them having perks you can unlock permanent that improve them or completely change the way how the gun works. The main thing that makes Returnal's gameplay so rewarding is the movement and the enemy design and attack patterns though. Selene moves like a dream with her dash and speed to match with the enemies that are just as aggressive. They somehow managed to make a third person shooter with insane bullet hell mechanics work extremely well and each encounter feels rewarding when you dodge into a melee attack or get some great shots in that gibs an enemy. The enemy designs are excellent here too with specific enemies in each biome acting different and having different attacks that keeps your on your toes especially since it can all happen at once. Returnal rewards movement above all else and gives you the actual attacks that require that you be perfect with dashes and moving around the map along with some of the best feeling guns I've used in a game in recent time. All of this also using Dual Sense which I think is used extremely well here. Each gun firing has a different feel of vibration that really makes you feel like you're firing that gun in real life along with the sound effects from your controller telling your alternative fire is ready that makes this also an extremely immersive experience on top of that. It's not a roguelike without power ups and Returnal has those in spades but also focusing more on risk and reward from my experience playing the game. You have artifacts which are your usual roguelike buffs in a run which have no downsides, parasites which work as giving you a buff and a debuff at the same time sometimes one outweigh the other one hard and malignant items which have you risk getting the item in exchange of getting a debuff which can range from situational or something extremely important with the only conventional way of removing it being completing the objective given to you by it. I personally always risk one if I have none but you never want too many or risk a critical malfunction which can destroy an item in your inventory. The maps in Returnal or the room structures will definitely become familiar in structure after a while but enemy placements will always be different and where you see the rooms during a run as well. Returnal truly relies on two things: your own skill and a bit of good luck and not getting an enemy early on that will one shot you but if once you get into the rhythm of the gameplay, it somehow gives me the "one more run" feeling despite how long runs are in this game.
The soundtrack does a lot to elevate the atmosphere and the level design each biome has. Each biome truly feels different in the enemy variety, the layout of the levels in general and just how each place has been affected by the events of the game. It's almost bordering on horror sometimes with how eerie the first person house sections are and traversing up a spire and hearing this organ music playing and getting louder and louder until I was at the source. Returnal truly uses everything the PlayStation 5 has and can do to make the sounds feel visceral and haunting bordering on having the controller literally screaming at you at certain moments.
I really loved Returnal honestly. It took me around eightteen hours to finally beat the game and it never got frustrating or fun despite the deaths and commitment to time. The fast frantic gunplay while having to dodge particles like as if they were drops of rain while even running for your life will only get you so far accompanying it with a great narrative and being extremely immersive that I forget myself sometimes. Returnal is truly a challenging game and you will probably feel like giving up at certain points. If you don't want a challenge then you should look elsewhere. Housemarque tends to make arcade style games and them creating this roguelike narrative experience feels like the evolution in a sense. This game feels like a console seller to me alone just for how well it uses the consoles to its absolute limit. With news of a PC version coming soon, I don't know how they'll manage to make the weapons feel with no haptics, it was that good. An extremely fun roguelike taking a few ideas from Metroidvanias in how equipment and item progression work to act like checkpoints and making runs easier but only for the strongest of wills.
Shenobi
2 years ago